USD Magazine, Summer 2000

without discouraging either sex, Mentoring Boys Is One Solution

Some colleges have responded by designing their admissions materials with a masculine flavor. Ochers give men outright preference in admissions. The University of Georgia discovered how controversial chat tactic was when it was sued by a woman who claimed she was rejected admission due to her sex. The school dropped the policy last year. As head of USD admissions, Pultz says the gender gap has not been formally addressed by the university, but says most colleges try to provide an array of athletics and traditionally male degrees - engineer– ing, sciences, business - to encourage men to enroll. He says it's also critical to work with the high schools and even elementary schools to ensure boys are pro– vided enough information about higher education. 'Tm not sure we've necessarily tried to address it in any formal ways yet," he says of recruiting efforts. "We look to have a balance of cultures and ethnicity here, and little by little, the guys creep into the equa– tion to some degree. " While last year's Goucher College gen– der summit failed to produce any solu– tions, organizers said it succeeded in raising the issue. They hope it will spark a debate on ways to increase expectations among young men of a college degree and expand their opportunities. Lazarus, who introduced a college mentoring program for minority and disadvantaged youth at USD, sees the need for similar programs for boys. He predicts the gender gap will narrow if women con– tinue to rise in their professions and society affords boys, as well as girls, strong encour– agement in their education. "Some 15 years ago, we were worried in the United States chat we would fall behind in engineering and the sciences because it was predominately foreign students enrolled in graduate science and engineering programs," he says. "But the foreign students stayed; Americans began to enroll in greater numbers, and the United States is still at the forefront of technology. We are more productive and more diverse because of chat, and I chink the same will be true with this issue." +

100%

USO VERSUS NATIONAL UNDERGRADUATE MALE ENROLLMENT

USD

II

NATIONAL

0%

Sources: USD Institutional Research, U.S. Census Bureau

gap even be closed?

17

SUMMER 2000